Ugandan cricket may be down but not entirely out. It is still a bitter pill to swallow that the Cricket Cranes got relegated to the unfamiliar ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division Four on home soil a week ago.But Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) can still save face via the ladies’ front. In September, this East African nation will be one of the five participants when Namibia hosts the ICC Africa Women’s Twenty20 World Cup Qualifiers.

The development was announced at the weekend and UCA has already rolled out a plan for the big continental meet.

Yesterday, two teams; the U-23s and the Girls Cricket Week Select sides were named to represent Uganda at the annual Kwibuka Women’s T20 Peace Cup slated for Rwanda capital Kigali this weekend.

Yusuf Nanga, who guided Masaka SS to second place at the Cricket Week and Soroti Academy tutor Ivan Kakande are tasked to guide the sides respectively when they grace the four-team competition comprising Kenya and Rwanda national teams.“This is not a normal tournament for us (Uganda) like in previous years,” Nanga told Daily Monitor before the teams left for Kigali last evening. “We expect tough cricket from Kenya and Rwanda to shape our girls,” the U-23s’ coach said.

Rightly so. Notwithstanding Pioneer Cricket Club’s Easter trip to Kigali, this competition is perhaps the biggest engagement lady cricketers are having since the start of the year.

The start of the National Women’s League was been delayed by the just concluded ICC WCL Division Three here last month.“The plan is to have the girls play wholeheartedly as we prepare for Namibia. The statistics from here will be used by the selectors to choose the best players for the August trials in Nairobi before Windhoek.” Nanga added. Nanga, also a player with Africa Cricket Club, has six of his 14 players from defending champions Tornado Bee including captain Gertrude Candiru, Racheal Ntono, Mary Nalule, Rashida Kalsum, Saidat Kemigisha and wicket-keeper Patricia Munguryek.

Meanwhile, his students from Masaka SS including Janet Baluka, Teddy Ayella and Immaculate Nakisuyi made the cut to Kakande’s Cricket Week Select team. Champions Jinja SS only have captain Stephanie Nampiina and Rita Musamali in the side. The tournament starts on tomorrow at the Kicukiro Oval, Kigali.